The official position of the IRS is that it wants every individual and business taxpayer to do what they need to do in order to avoid Y2K problems which will cause them an inability to comply with tax laws.

But if legitimate issue arise, the IRS will waive penalties and interest.

Immediately after the new year begins, you will be checking your critical systems and you should also be checking your clients critical systems. Tax related glitches due to Y2K may appear in the following weeks, which will cause your client an inability to comply with deadlines imposed by the IRS.

How can you help ensure that they get all the tax relief available? Simple. Follow these guidelines and your clients will see smoother sailing with the IRS Y2K relief effort:

1. Contact the IRS immediately at 1-800-829-1040.

2. Help your client prepare the proper answers to the following five questions:

• What was the Y2K failure?
• How did it affect your ability to meet your tax obligations?
• What steps did you take to become Y2K compliant?
• When did you discover the failure?
• When will the failure be corrected?

Without legitimate responses to these questions, IRS taxpayer relief will be difficult to achieve due to the millennium bug.